As a farm kid in the 1970s, Pat Duncanson patrolled the rows on his Minnesota land, hoe in hand. Gone for decades, bean-walking is back.
In 2020, Duncanson, partner-owner at Highland Family Farms, began the three-year march toward organic certification on 100 acres of rotating corn and soybean ground. During the first year of transition, a honeymoon of relatively low weed presence, all control was delivered with a cultivator. No pressure, no problem.
However, the following year, 2021, weeds rebounded in soybeans, and Duncanson brought in an old-school chopping crew. “As long as we’re in organics, we’re probably going to use a chopping crew because we’re not going to tolerate weeds going to seed and contributing to next year’s seedbank.”
“We’re shooting for high yields and managing weeds with that mindset,” he adds. “Every grower is different, but we’re trading what would have been spent on chemicals and spending it on cultivator passes and chopping crews. On our organic acreage, weed control is not about saving money; it’s about the seedbank.”
Long-term Investment
Two hours south of the Twin Cities, pinpointed in the east-west middle of Minnesota, 40 miles north of the Iowa line, fifth-generation Duncanson farms alongside his wife, Kristin, and son Gabe in Blue Earth County. The trio grows corn, soybeans, hybrid rye—and 100 acres of organic corn and soybeans. (Duncanson grew non-traited corn from 2015-2019, primarily as a cost control to bridge the gap with high-priced seed.)
In 2021, the second year of Duncanson’s 100-acre move to organics, he noted increased presence of multiple weed species. Historically on his ground, foxtail surfaces as a steady weed nemesis, but in recent years, wooly cupgrass has abounded. “Cupgrass has spread like crazy and we noticed it on acres where we didn’t have Roundup available,” Duncanson describes. “Generally, tall waterhemp is a problem for us and so is giant ragweed.”
“But when we moved acres to organics, and lost the ability to have chemical control, it was amazing to see how cocklebur and velvet leaf came back so quickly. At least we don’t have Palmer amaranth, and we’re very grateful.”
Initially, Duncanson responded to the weed threat in 2021 with a cultivator and rotary hoe—roughly 10 tillage passes in soybeans planted in early June on 30” rows. “I wanted more coverage and I saw a newspaper advertisement for a crew of bean-walkers. I called the number, but I felt like the labor fee was too high.”
Instead, he tapped a troop of high school athletes to hit the knee-high beans in late July. “They were great kids and came out several hours a day for a week, but they ran outta gas pretty fast.”
Duncanson’s weed pressure was moderate, but he was hypervigilant and viewed weed control as an investment in the future of his organic production. “I was trying to control the weed seed population for the long-term and wasn’t concerned about the immediate return on the crop.”
Back to the newspaper ad. Duncanson dialed the number and hired a chopping crew to make one final pass across the field with hoes and machetes. Well-satisfied by the clean result, he repeated the process again in 2022 corn, hiring another outside chopping crew.
“Basically, we brought in a chopping crew again for a single pass when we could no longer cultivate. In soybeans, we brought guys in during late July, but in corn, we brought them in during late June because corn grows so much faster.”
“This year in 2022, they did an excellent job. Amazing performance to see 12 guys clean a field in just 12 hours. When guys are carrying hoes and knives in your field, you want to make sure everything is safe, and their lead guy took care of all work-comp issues and compliance issues.”
Break the Seedbank
Duncanson views hand-weeding as a necessary expense to ensure his organic acreage gets maximum opportunity for success. The 100 acres of grain sit on excellent soil and are planted and harvested with the exact equipment and strategies used on his traditional ground.
“Right now, we’re in a proof-of-concept venture, and it’s not our main venture, but we’re intrigued by the organic consumer demand and profit potential. We’re shooting high and in doing so, we manage weeds without chemicals with a similar mindset. I’m not going to allow weeds to go to seed.”
“We’re learning and every other farmer will have a different opinion on chopping crews,” Duncanson adds. “In our case, the chopping crew serves one purpose—drain the seedbank to protect our organic investment.”
To read more stories from Chris Bennett (cbennett@farmjournal.com — 662-592-1106), see:
Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market
Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.
Bagging the Tomato King: The Insane Hunt for Agriculture’s Wildest Con Man
How a Texas Farmer Killed Agriculture’s Debt Dragon
While America Slept, China Stole the Farm
Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years
The Arrowhead whisperer: Stunning Indian Artifact Collection Found on Farmland
Where’s the Beef: Con Artist Turns Texas Cattle Industry Into $100M Playground
Fleecing the Farm: How a Fake Crop Fueled a Bizarre $25 Million Ag Scam
Skeleton In the Walls: Mysterious Arkansas Farmhouse Hides Civil War History
US Farming Loses the King of Combines
Ghost in the House: A Forgotten American Farming Tragedy
Rat Hunting with the Dogs of War, Farming’s Greatest Show on Legs
Misfit Tractors a Money Saver for Arkansas Farmer
Government Cameras Hidden on Private Property? Welcome to Open Fields
Farmland Detective Finds Youngest Civil War Soldier’s Grave?
Descent Into Hell: Farmer Escapes Corn Tomb Death
Evil Grain: The Wild Tale of History’s Biggest Crop Insurance Scam
Grizzly Hell: USDA Worker Survives Epic Bear Attack
Farmer Refuses to Roll, Rips Lid Off IRS Behavior
Killing Hogzilla: Hunting a Monster Wild Pig
Shattered Taboo: Death of a Farm and Resurrection of a Farmer
Frozen Dinosaur: Farmer Finds Huge Alligator Snapping Turtle Under Ice
Breaking Bad: Chasing the Wildest Con Artist in Farming History
In the Blood: Hunting Deer Antlers with a Legendary Shed Whisperer
Corn Maverick: Cracking the Mystery of 60-Inch Rows
Against All Odds: Farmer Survives Epic Ordeal
